“You’re in love with Yoona, aren’t you?”

Seohyun seemed to freeze. The hand that she was waving in front of Jessica’s face stopped midair before she let it down. It took her a moment to actually realize that it was happening; Jessica had found out about her most inner secret and all because she couldn’t deal with it on her own. She had hesitated about asking for the ice princess’s help, but she couldn’t find the answer to her dilemma in any self-improvement book. Now, she was realizing the big mistake she had made.

“W-what did you just say, unnie?” Seohyun asked breathlessly, holding on to the thought that she might have heard wrong, which of course, wasn’t the case.

“You heard me, Joohyun. You are in love with Im Yoona, your boyfriend’s sister and your best friend’s girlfriend, to be more specific.” Jessica said, crossing her arms and staring intently at Seohyun. She couldn’t help but feel mad at the maknae and Yoona, because this messed up love web, in the end, came down to them. She instantly felt bad about her harsh words when she saw the maknae’s distraught face and tears running down her cheeks. Jessica didn’t know what to say next, she had never been good at consoling people, though seeing the maknae crying so desperately was truly hurting her.

“I don’t know what to do, unnie…” Seohyun muttered in-between sobs that rocked her whole body.

“How did this happen? If you love Yoona and she loves you back, why wouldn’t you just be together? Why would you involve Fany and Chansung?” Jessica asked, trying to comprehend what had happened. Seohyun told her everything that had gone down, even though the sobs barely let her talk.

“Now Chansung is being so demanding, like he wants everything I am and have… My parents already met him and love him, but they don’t know who he really is.” Seohyun said, trying to keep her crying under control. Jessica furrowed her brows thinking that Seohyun was definitely in a messed up situation.

“Look at the bright side of things, Hyunnie. Yoona loves you and you love her back, so isn’t it worth fighting for? I know you two will find a way…” Jessica whispered soothingly, even though she partly didn’t believe her own words. It did make Seohyun feel better, though. She always felt loved when it came to Yoona. Knowing Yoona reciprocated her feelings was the energizing pill she needed to get through every day.

“You’re right, Sica.” Jessica felt good with herself once she saw Seohyun’s light smile. “But, unnie… Please don’t tell Fany. I don’t know what would happen to me if she finds out now.” Seohyun begged. Jessica, of course, agreed to it immediately with a nod.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” Jessica said, smiling lightly. Seohyun then thought that letting her secret out to one of her closest friends was exactly hadn’t been a bad idea after all.

“Thank you.” With that, Seohyun hugged her unnie. She knew how much Jessica hated skinship, but that didn’t stop her. Jessica hugged back hesitantly, knowing her donsaeng needed it.

Tiffany’s condo

Yoona’s heart hadn’t stopped beating strangely after her conversation with Tiffany. She was praising herself for not telling Tiffany that she loved her too, but still, her heart told her she had done the wrong thing once again. Asking Tiffany to be her girlfriend had been the first one, she realized now. She picked up a magazine from the coffee table next to the couch she was sitting on and flipped mindlessly through it, trying to think about something else. Tiffany was busy cleaning the kitchen, though she would steal glances at the choding every now and then, as if trying to find a way of knowing what the other girl was thinking.

Yoona, while flipping through the pages of the magazine, found an announcement that got her attention. The advertisement’s headline read “Seoul Amateur Singing Contest”. It instantly reminded her of Tiffany and her love for performing.

“Tiffany, can you come over here for a second?” Yoona asked, not taking her eyes off the ad as she read the requirements and details of the contest. Tiffany went over to her and sat next to her, leaning her head on Yoona’s shoulder. Her heart felt heavy when she felt Yoona slightly tensed up. “Had you read this?” Yoona asked, trying to ignore Tiffany’s display of affection. They had cuddled numerous times before, but now that Yoona knew these displays of affection held more meaning, she felt guilty allowing them to happen. Tiffany shook her head against Yoona’s shoulder before she finally paid attention to the ad on the magazine. “The prize for this singing contest is $20 000 and you’re totally applicable to it.” Yoona said as she turned her head to look at Tiffany straight in the eye. Their faces were so close together that their noses were touching. The sweet look Yoona was giving her made Tiffany believe that Yoona would finally stop being so distant and allow herself to fall for her. She barely paid attention to the singing contest. “It’s more than enough to buy a two-way ticket to San Francisco.” Yoona whispered, knowing she was about to bring up a touchy subject. Tiffany finally snapped out of her Yoona-induced daze as her hometown was mentioned. The American girl had told Yoona numerous times how much she wanted to go back to the US and find her father. She knew he probably wouldn’t want to see her, but Tiffany wanted give it a last try. She would also love to see her aunt, who had taken care of her the way she could after her mother’s death. Yoona’s thoughtfulness made her smile.

“You’re right, Yoongie…” Tiffany whispered, thinking the opportunity was just too surreal. Yoona, by seeing Tiffany’s face light up, thought Tiffany was truly an angel. After everything her father had put her through, she still wanted to have a relationship with him, and not having seen him in almost two years was killing her.

“You’ve got nothing to lose, Tiffany. You just have to do what you love to do: performing.” Yoona said, leaning her forehead against Tiffany’s. Even though she wasn’t in love with her, Yoona still wanted to protect her and make her happy. Tiffany closed her eyes, enjoying her closeness to Yoona.

“You’re right, baby.” Yoona flinched slightly at the nickname, though it went unnoticed by Tiffany. “I can do this, as long as you’ve got my back?” Tiffany asked.

“Of course I’ll be with you in every step of the way. Believe me when I say you have this one on the bag” Yoona said wiggling her eyebrows cutely. Tiffany giggled as she raised her shoulders shyly. She leaned forward just a little so that her lips could touch Yoona’s in a gentle kiss.

“I thought I had lost you for a moment. I’m glad it’s not like that.” Yoona kept quiet at Tiffany’s statement, still giving her lingering pecks. “I love you” Tiffany said in a sigh. Yoona flinched and wrapped her arms around Tiffany’s waist.

“I know.” She whispered, removing a strand of hair from Tiffany’s face. The slightly older girl thought it wasn’t quite the answer she was waiting for, but she was completely sure that she would get it sooner than later.

Next day, Gyeonsing High

During their last period, Yoona and Seohyun couldn’t stop glancing at each other. They were both losing concentration on the pieces they were playing and Mr. Kim, the director, was noticing it. One time, they looked at each other at the same time. The longing they saw in each other’s eyes was overwhelming. They felt close, yet so far away from each other. When they felt Mr Kim’s eyes on them, they quit their staring contest and focused on getting the period over with. When the last bell rang, everyone hurried out, including Tiffany. Seohyun and Yoona, on the other hand, hadn’t moved from their seats.

“Are you coming, Yoongie?” Tiffany asked sweetly. Yoona shook her head with a slight smile.

“I’ll be right out, wait for me.” Tiffany nodded and went outside the auditorium, leaving Seohyun and Yoona alone. The two girls looked right into each other’s eyes.

“I think Mr. Kim wanted to talk to you, Hyunnie. Hurry before he leaves.” Yoona said, before Seohyun could say anything. The maknae felt disappointed, since she was hoping for, at least, a proper conversation with Yoona. There were no words to explain how much she missed the choding. Being with Chansung was nothing like being with Yoona. Being the obedient person she was, she just nodded and slowly walked to where Mr. Kim’s office was. Yoona watched her as she left, with her usual elegance, until she was out of sight. Then, she hurriedly went to the piano and looked at the papers on its action frame. She found a folder that read Seohyun’s sheet music and she took it, putting it on her messenger bag. Yoona muttered a ‘sorry, Seohyun’ as she hid the folder in-between her books so that no one would see it. It was the start of her master plan, and the folder where Seohyun kept the songs she made herself, was a major part of it. She was about to run out the auditorium when she heard footsteps coming into the auditorium. She turned to see Seohyun, with her head down as she walked up to her.

“He didn’t want to see me, Yoona. Look, I understand you might not want to be around me, but…” Seohyun was stopped by Yoona, who had closed the distance between them until their chests were almost touching.

“I want to be with you only, Seohyun.” She said before cupping the younger girl’s chin in her hand as she lifted it so Seohyun could meet her eyes. Yoona then looked around, and when she realized no one would find them, she cupped Seohyun’s cheek in her hand as she pressed a sonorous kiss on the other one, then nuzzling Seohyun’s cheek. The maknae let herself enjoy the feeling of Yoona’s breath on her cheek, closing her eyes. Chansung’s forced caresses were nothing like Yoona’s limited ones, who were always filled with gentleness. “Just wait a little more, okay?” She whispered in Seohyun’s ear before pulling away, giving Seohyun one last look of apology, and turning around to leave the auditorium. The maknae pondered on Yoona’s words; she hadn’t quite understood them, but somehow they made her feel hopeful. She didn’t even realize her songs were missing.

When Yoona went out of the auditorium, she saw Tiffany waiting for her. She immediately blushed as she remembered how close she had been to Seohyun back inside the auditorium. She tried to act like nothing was going on so that she wouldn’t inspire suspicion from Tiffany. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop blushing as if she had been done something way worse, so she decided to make up some new excuse so she could have a few minutes to calm herself down. Being close to Seohyun had dangerous side effects.

“I forgot to get something from my locker, I’m sorry, Tiffany. I’ll be right back.” She tossed her messenger bag on the floor thoughtlessly as she pretty much jogged towards the senior lockers.

“Aish, this girl…” Tiffany muttered with a slight smile as she saw Yoona’s messenger bag had opened and some books and papers had fallen out of it. She crouched down to pick them up, until she saw a folder she didn’t recognize. When she picked it up, she saw it read ‘Seohyun’s sheet music’. She put the other books inside Yoona’s bag and waited until the girl came back. When Yoona saw what Tiffany was holding in her hands, she paled. “Why do you have Seohyun’s folder?” She asked, furrowing her brows. Yoona ran a hand through her hair in nervousness.

“She borrowed it to me. Come on, Fany, the school’s almost empty.” Yoona said hurriedly, taking the folder from Tiffany’s hands and taking one of them so she could lead her through the hallways.

Tiffany didn’t say another word, but in her mind, the suspicion had just begun, unbeknownst to Yoona.

….

Kinda short chapter, right? I decided to update sooner than thought because I’ll be gone this weekend :) Also, while I wrote this whole chapter, I didn’t stop listening to Big Bang’s 声をきかせて (Let me hear your voice). I’m seriously obsessed with that song; it inspired me. Hope you like this chapter, and once again, thanks for reading!